Pope: ‘It’s a Manner of Communicating My Ministry’

The last few months have witnessed another flurry of interviews by Pope Francis with secular and Catholic media outlets, the release of several more books on the Pope, and even the publication of a memoir by the Pontiff, under the title, Life, My Story Through History. The media blitz by the Pope — including his freshly aired interview with CBS’ 60 Minutes — is part of a consistent pattern by the modern popes in the use of social communications and media outreach. Pope Francis, however, is unique in his deliberate and aggressive embrace of interviews for television, radio, newspapers and magazines. So commonplace are the interviews and publications that they are undeniably part of a deliberate personal communications strategy tied to his wider leadership style and his program of reform for the Church.